Antislipping-tread attachment for motor-vehicles.



M. JENSUO.

ANTISLIPPING TREAD ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13, 1908.

941,993. Patented N0v.30,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. JENSGO.

ANTISLIPPING TREAD ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13, 1908.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

witness MICHAEL JENSCO, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

ANTISLIPPING-TREAD ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

Application filed November 13, 1908. Serial No 462,476.

To all 107mm it may concern.

Be it known that 1, MICHAEL JENseo. a eitizen of the United Statesresiding at Butler, in the eounty of llutler and State ol.

lennsylvama, have invented new and useful Improvements in Antislipping-Tread l\ttachmeuts tor Motor-Yelueles, oi which the tollowmg is a speeilication.

This invention relates to anti-slipping" tread attaehments tor the wheels ot motor velueles, the object in view being to provide a simple. ell'ective and eomparatively inexpensive construction of devices of this character which may be applied to the wheels aml body ol any ordinary motor vehicle and thrown into and out of action at will. so as to be out of the way and not interlere with the. resilieney ol' the tires when not in use. while operating when in use to adapt the wheels to seeurc a lirm grip on the road surl'aee to enable hills to be ea ily climbed. l'aeilitate ti'aetion on sandy roads and prevent slipping or skidding of the wheels on muddy and iey roads.

with these and other objeets in view. the invention eonsists ol' the l'eatures ot eonslruetion and combination ol parts herein ul'ter 'l'ully deseribed and elaimed. irel'erenee being bad to the aeeoinpatiyillg drawings. in \vhieli3- Figure l is a side elevation ol' a motor yehiele embodying my invention. Fig. 2

is a vertieal z eetion through one ot' the rear wheels thereol. Fig. 3 is a [)tl:-'l)tt'll\'.t view ol an extension tube lived to the hub of the wheel. l ig. lis a side view ol' the sliding sleeve. Fig. I is a diagram of the operat ng mechanism.

ltei'erring to the drawings. 1 designates the body ol' an automobile. and 2 one ol' the rear drive wheels thereol \\'l|lt'll is shown as eomprising a hub I channeled rim or l'elly l, spokes 5 connecting the hub amt telly, and a resilient tire t titted upon said rim or lelly.

Anti-slipping tread deviees embodyingmy invention are mounted upon each of the drive wheels 2 of the vehiele. eaeh set ol tread deviees eomprisinga series of pointed rods or spurs T arranged for radial movemeut at one side of the rim and tire for projection and retraetion beyond atnl within the line ol' the tread snrl'aee ol' the tire. 'lheso sliding tread or gripping spurs are adapted when projected to engage or sink into the surl'aee ol" the ground or roadway to seeure a lirm grip of the wheels thereon to l l l slidably mounted enable hills to be easily climbed and to pre vent slipping or skidding of the wheels on muddy or icy roads or streets, as well as to adapt the vehicle to aisily travel sandy roads. As shown, the spurs are mounted to slide in guide brackets, each comprising a tube b in which the cooperating spur is and a curved arm 9 extending inwardly from the tube and hear ing against the side of the rim and secured to the outer end of the adjacent spoke by a clip or fastening lt). The series of spurs are pivotally connected for radial movement by links or radius bat-s11. to a sliding sleeve 1:2

having atits inner end a notehed annular tlange l t to whieh the inner ends of the links are pivoted The sleeve 12 is fitted to slide laterally of the wheel upon a tube ll receiving the outer end ot the hub 3 and provided at its inner end with an outwardly extending annular tlange 1" bearing against the outer face of the body of' the hub and set-tired at. intervals to the inner ends of the spokes i by U-bolts,

elips or other suitable lastenings 16. It willthus be understood that the tube it forms a lmb extension t'or mounting the main operating member or slee\e ll! of the tread mechanism upon the hub ol the wheel and, in praetiee. the parts referred to are properly eonstrueted to enable them to be applied to an automobile wheel ol any ordinary eonstruetion. whereby the invention nniy be mounted for use upon the driving wheels of any automobile of ordinary construction without the neeessirv oi varyingthe construction of the \ehiele in any particular.

The sleev e 1; is t'ormed with an external annular groin e reeeiving a shil'ting collar lb \vhieh may be eonstruet'ed ol suitably coupled seetions'and is provided at diametrically opposite sides with pivot pins li which are pivotally engaged by the arms of a yoke or fork it) formed upon the lower end of a shipper le\er "it. \\'ltivlt lever is intermediately l'ulerumed upon the lower end of an angle llt'tltlttl 22 secured to the side of the body ol' the machine and overhanging and extending down upon the outside of the wheel 2. said lever being movable in a direction transversely of the vehiele so as to slide the sleeve 13 in and out and thus eommuni eate motion through the links ll t0 the, tread spurs T. whereby the latter may bepros jet-ted and retraeted.

The construction of the t tad devices mounted upon the driving wheels 2 at the opposite sides of the vehicle is the same 1n every particular, and in order to enable the same to be simultaneously operated an operating lever 23 is rovided at a convenient point for manipu ation by the driver or chauffeur and carries a pawl 24 to engage a rack 25 by which it may be secured 1n adjusted .position.- This lever is arranged at one side of the machine and is connected by a rod 26 with one of the arms of a bell crank lever 27, the other arm of which ispivotally connected with a transversely movable bar or rod 28, the adjacent end of which is pivoted to the upper end of the shipper lever 21 at the same side of the vehicle to operate the tread devices of the wheel at that side. The bar or rod 28 passes through the body of the vehicle above the plane of the wheels and is connected at its opposite end on the other side of the vehicle to one of the arms of a bell crank lever 29, the other arm of which is connected by a link 30 with the shipper lever 21 at that side. The two bell crank levers 27 and 29 are so mounted and connected with the coupling bar or rod 28 that a movement of said bar in one direction will-cause a simultaneous projection of the gripping spurs of both wheels, while a re-;

verse movement of the bar will effect the simultaneous retraction of the gri ping s urs of both wheels, as will be readily unerstood byreference to Fig. 5.

From the foregoing description, the construction and mode of operation of my improved anti-slipping tread or gripping attachments for the wheels of a motor vehicle will be readily understood, and it will be apparent that the invention provides devices of this character which may be applied to the wheels of automobiles of ordinary construction without the necessity of modifying the body or wheels of the vehicle in any material particulars. It will also be seen that the construction of the tread mechanism is simple, so that the invention may be manufactured and applied for use upon a vehicle atlaucomparatively low cost. When thespurs are projected their pointed ends extend beyond the tread surfaces of the tires to enable a firm grip upon the ground to be obtained. WVhen said spurs are retracted their pointed ends lie inwardly beyond the tread portions of thetires to a suflicient extent to prevent interference with the resiliency of the tires under ordinary conditions of serv- 1ce.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the vehicle body, and the rear axle thereof, of wheels carried by said 'axle,

guides upon the rim portions of the wheels,

sleeves slidably mounted on the hubs of the wheels, gripping spurs'radially movable in said guides and operatively connected to said sleeves for pro ectionand retraction by reverse movements thereof, pi voted operating levers connected with the sleeves, reversely arranged bell crank levers connected with said operating levers, a link connecting the bell crank levers, and a main operating connection coupled to one of said bell crank levers.

2. The combination with a vehicle body and one of its Wheels, of guides upon the outer side of the rim portion of the wheel, an outward extension upon the hub of the wheel, a collar slidably mounted upon said extension, gripping spurs slidably mounted in said guides, links connecting the collar MICHAEL J ENSGO.

W'itnesses:

JAooB Knox, OSCAR OERTEL. 

